242 



RED-TAILED SUN-BIRD. 



Nectarinia pliGnicura. 



PLATE XXIX. 



WE have another large and fine tailed species en- 

 trusted to us by the Zoological Society. The male 

 has the long centre feathers imperfectly developed, 

 but entirely exclusive of them is five inches in length. 

 The female is within an eight of seven inches to the 

 extremity, while her tail measures three and a half 

 inches. In the male, the crown and two broad 

 maxillary stripes are steel-blue with violet reflec- 

 tions ; the hind-head, back, and sides of the neck, 

 rump and upper tail-covers, and outside webs of 

 the tail- feathers, bright orange scarlet-red ; the 

 rump, dull gamboge-yellow; the shoulders, sca- 

 pulars, and edges of the wing-feathers, oil-green; 

 the quills and secondaries, and inner webs of the 

 tail-feathers, umber-brown; the chin and centre of 

 the throat and neck, deep velvet-black. The re- 

 maining under parts gamboge-yellow, orange in 

 the centre of the breast, aud becoming very dull 

 and greenish on the vent and tail-coverts. In the 

 female the whole upper parts and wings, rump ex- 

 cepted, are yellowish oil-green ; on the rump the 

 yellow band is marked by dull yellow, and sue- 



